Coaling and watering device for moving tenders.



W. H. & J. T. RICE.

COALING AND WATERING DEVICE FOR MOVING vTENDERS. APPLICATION FILED DEC-5| IQIZ.

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Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

W. H. 6L I. T. RICE.

COALING AND WATERING DEVICE FIOR MOVING TENDERS.

AIPLICATION FILED DEC-5. 1912.4

Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

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W. H. 6L I. T. RICE. COALING AND WATERING DEVICE FOR MOVING TENDERS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.5| I9I2- Patented Aug. 29

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w. H. I J. T. RICE. COALING AND WATERING DEVICE FOR MOVING TENDERS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-5.1912 i QI., Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

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WILLIAM H. RICE AND JAMES T. RICE, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

COALING AND WATERING- DEVICE FOR MOVING TENDER/S.

Application filed. December 5, 1912.

To all 'whom t may concern.'

Be it known that we7 WILLIAM H. RICE and JAMES T. Rien, citizens of the United States, and residents of St. Louis, Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coaling and VVate-ring Devices for Moving rFenders7 of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in a device for loading locomotive tenders with coal and water while in motion, and has for its object a structure on which-is mounted a carriage containing a quantity of coall and water, a means for retaining the carriage in a stationary position aswell as for releasing the same by the moving tender, permitting said carriage to move in advance of the moving train, and a means located on the tender for operating a releasing mechanism to dump the coal and water into the. tender While the train is in motion.

A further object of our invention is to construct a trestle work over a railway track the said trestle work to have a. suitable curved or inclined roadway on which is supported a carriage containing` coal and water, a lever .mechanism supported by the trestle work which retains the carriage in position in advance of the curved or inclined roadway, and for releasing the same by contact with the tender of a moving train, releasing the carriage in advance of the moving train, and a mechanism provided on the carriage which is released by contact with a device on the tender to dump the contents oi' the carriage into the tender whilel the train is in motion, the said carriage and trestle work being so arranged as to avoid contact with any portion of the moving train with the exception of the device provided on the tender.

Figure 1 is a top plan view of the trestle work showing the arrangement of the tracks for supporting the carriage. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same. Fig. 3 yis a sectional view of the same taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2, Fig. t is a side view of the carriage which is to operate on the trestle work. Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view ot' the same. Fig. 6 is a. side view of the carriage showing the same in contact with the tender and in an unloading or dumping position. Fig. 7 is a central sectional view of the carriage. Fig. 8 is a detail horizontal sectional view of the water compartment of the carriage Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Ano'. 29. 1916.

serial No. 735,144.

taken on the line 8 8 of Fig. 7 Fig. 9 .is a top plan view of the mechanism carried by the tender for contacting with and operating the dumping mechanism of the carriage. F ig. 10 is a rear view of the same. Fig. 11 is a detail perspective view of one of the .pivotal jaws forming a part of the mechanism carried by the tender. Fig. 12 is a detail perspective view of the lever mechanism on the tender by which the lever mechanism is operated for releasing the carriage on thetrestle work. Fig. 13 is a detail perspective. view of the lever mechanism which supports and releases the carriage on the trestle work when contacted with by the lever on the tender. Fig. 14 is a detail perspective view of a latch by which the carriage is supported on the opposite end of the trestle work when advanced by the moving train. Fig. 15 is a detail side elevation of the.- levers used in connection with the dumping mechanism of the coal compartment of the carriage. Fig. 16 is a detail perspective view of the lever mechanism for controlling the. movable bottom of the coal compartment of the carriage.

In carrying out our invention we provide a suitable structure in the form of a trestle work built over the track and roadway of the railroad right of way which structure comprises suitable standards 17, and of a height desirable to permit the train to freely pass thereunder; these standards are so arranged as to support an overhead track 187 which'track is partially horizontal as shown, the ends 19 being curved upwardly and at such angle and pitch as to permit the carriage v20, in which is located a suitable sup- .ply of coal and water, to move toward the horizontal portion of the track when released by the tender of the moving train. rFhe pitchof the track is regulated so as to provide suiiicient speed to the carriage so that said carriage may gain a momentum and movement in advance of the approaching train, and so that said carriage will be in proper position on the lowest portion of the track 18, that the tender will come in contact with the same, and by means of a contacting mechanism located on the tender a mechanism mounted on the carriage will be released and the contents thereof dumped into the tender while the train is in motion.

The structure in addition to the tracks just described is provided with tracks 21 carried onV a platform 227 and the ends of the rails being suitably bent upwardly as indicated by the numeral 23 which acts as a bumper or stop for the carriage whenever said carriage may come in contact therewith.

On the standards 17 which are centrally located are also provided rails 24 and which extend the length of the horizontal portion' `brought to its proper position on eitherend of theinclined or curved track.

7e will now describe the mechanism of the carriage' which constitutes a part of our invention, this carriage consisting of a body 26 divided into two compartments 27 and 28 by a division 'wall 29. The compartment 27 is provided with inclined sides 30 acting as a hopper and in the compartment is placed thecoal to be delivered to the tender; near 1thelower end of the vcompartment is located -a drop bottom consisting of two members 31 and 32'attached to the inner side by hinges 33; the member 31havinga projecting flap 34 which overlaps the ymember 32 when brought vin horizontal position. On

thefmember 31 is pivotally secured a lever 35; this lever is provided with a hinge 36 which permits the said lever together with the member 31 to swingdownwardly with out interrupting the end 37 of the lever; this lever operates in a slot 38 formed in the side and on the opposite end of the lever is pivotally mounted two latch bars 39 and 40, the same supported in guides 41 and the free ends arranged to project into openings orV vsmall slots formed in the walls of the body.

On the members 31'and 32 are also provided arms 42. and 43, the free ends projectingy through the partition wall 29 and operating in curvilinear slots 44 formed therein. On the trunnions formed on the free or projectingzends of the arms 42 and 43 -areconnected links 45 and 46, the link 45 being of a length shorter than the link 46 and said link 45' being attached to the arm Y43 so as to operate the member 32 of the drop bottom slightly in advance of the member 31 when closing the drop bottom from an open to a horizontalposition; by this acti'onfit permits the flap 34 to resume' its proper position beneath the member 32 so as to rigidly support'ithe same. AThe opposite ends ofthe links 45 and 46 are pivoted to a rod 47 which extendsupwardly through a tubularhousing 48 located on the partition wall 29, landto the upper end of the rod 47 is connected a lever 48 supported in a bracket 49 located on a top portion 50 0f the compartment 28; this top portion, in addition to maintaining the support 49 also acts as a shield to prevent the water which is carried in the compartment 28 from spilling while the car is descending down the inclined track.

The compartment 28 in which the water is supported is provided with a hopper bottom 51 in which is located a tubular casing 52 provided with a valve seat 53 and a plurality of large openings 54, which openings are'located above the valve seat and above the top of the valve 55 which -is located in the tubular casing and which controls the disbursement of the water from the hopper.

The valve 55 is provided with a valve stemv 56 extending upwardly and located in a sleeve 57. In this sleeve is located a spring 58 and in the portion of the valve stem located in the sleeve is provided an elongated slot 59, and through the same operatesa pin to provide suiicient give during the operation of the lever 48 so that the valve 55 when brought in proper position in the valve seat will not bc disturbed by the closing ofthe drop bottom in the coal compartment. Thevsleeve 57 is connected to the lever 48 and'by the same the valve is operated simultaneously with the operation of the drop bottom.

The end 37 of the lever 35 is connected to a cross arm 60 which is connected to a. lever 61 located on the outside of the car body and pivoted at the point indicated by the numeral 62, the bottom end of said lever operatingin a guide 63, itsv free end provided with a right angular projection 64 which is designed vto come in contact with a projection 65 located on one side of the locomotive tender-66.y

Theibody of the carriage' is provided with suitable'wheels 67 and 68; the wheels 67 are so positioned as to operate on the track 18 while the wheels 68 operate. on the track 21 andalsoon the return 0r switch track 25. On oneend of the carriage is located a. rigid stop bar 69 which has its lower end projecting` sufficiently to communicate with the pawl 70 operated by the lever mechanismv supported on the trestle work, and this lever mechanisml consists of a shaft 71 supported in suitablenbearings 72, each end provided with a l.crank 73 and 74, the crank 73 coinmunicating .with thek lower end of the pawl 70 while the crank 74 is connectedto a bar 75 extending any desirable length, and is connected to .an operating lever 76 with whichthe'- tender contacts so as to release the pawlv from'y the stop 69; this lever 7 6 is arranged to one side ofthe train and is only contacted with by -the lever mechanism 77 located on the side: of the` tender and consists'. of a bar.78 provided with notches or like devices 79 and attached to a pivoted wing 80 which is designed to be projected beyond the side of the tender and in alinement with the lever 76 by the manipulation of the bar 78.

If it is desired to pass beneath the structure without manipulating the overhead carriage, the lever mechanism on the tender is left in a closed position as that shown in Fig. 12 and the lever 76 is so positioned as to release the carriage when contacted with at a proper time so that the carriage in the trestle work will advance on the inclined track ahead of the approaching train. The pawl 70 is held in its normal projecting position by means of the spring or like mechanism 81.

In addition to the mechanism located on the tender for operating the lever 76 we provide a suitable hopper 82 which leads into the water compartment of the tender and which is in proper alinement with the bottom or discharge end of the water compartment of the carriage; (this relation being clearly shown in Fig. 6;) the inner surface of the hopper may be provided with a suitable screening so as to prevent any foreign substance from entering into the water compartment and to the rear of the hopper 82 and mounted on the tender is a mechanism for contacting with the carriage advancing the same forwardly with the movement of the train so that the contents of the carriage, both coal and water are properly discharged into the tender; this mechanism consists of a standard 83 having a horizontal portion 84 provided with a V-shaped entrance 85. Beneath the horizontal portion 84 and pivoted at the points indicated by the numeral 86 are jaws 87, each provided with shoulders 88 which contact with the stop bar 69 of the carriage firmly retaining the carriage in proper relation with the tender, and in order to prevent a sudden j olting during the contact of the tender with the carriage we provide a spring controlled bumper 89 with which the stop 69 contacts after having first communicated with the inclined surface of the jaws 87 and entering into the recess 90 both the jaws are held in normal closed position by means of a spring 91 attached to the projections 92 formed on said jaws.

The carriage is held in locked position with the mechanism on the tender and conveyed with the moving tender, and during the movement the said carriage is released from its locked position during its ascent up the inclined track on the opposite side of the structure, and is conveyed on to the track 2l on the platform 22 by momentum, but if in the event the carriage should by chance not reach its proper position on the platform we provide a latch or lock 93 which engages with the stop 69 on the carriage and prevents the same from rolling down the inclined track.

In instances where a train is operated on a single track and trains running in opposite directions, the structure of the overhead mechanism is duplicated on each end, and the platforms may be provided with suitable turn-tables and swings by which the carriage, after having been loaded with coal and water can be placed in position on the inclined track to accommodate the train, no matter in what direction the same may be running.

The operation of our invention is as follows: The trestle work or structure is suitably built above the railway track or main line and of such length as is found desirable and deemed proper, and the curved track is so arranged that the carriage containing a suitable quantity of coal and water may travel down the inclined track to the horizontal portion thereof at a speed ap proximately corresponding with the speed of the moving train so as to reach the horizontal portion of the track in advance of the moving train and the lever mechanism for releasing the carriage so that it might travel on the inclined track is so placed and at such length that the carriage has proper opportunity to reach its proper destination and when the same is on the vertical portion of the track and suspended above the train, the contents of both the coal compartment and the water compartment are operated by means of the projection 65 on the tender contacting with and operating the lever 6l; after this lever is pressed for wardly the latch bars 89 and 40 are released and the gravity of the coal in the compart- `ment will have a tendency to open the swinging doors and deposit the coal into the coal compartment of the tender. While this action is in progress, the links connected to the swinging doors pull downwardly upon the rod 47 raising the valve in the water compartment, permitting the water therein to freely pass out of the hopper into the water compartment of the tender. During this operation the tender together with the car which is connected together by the mechanism on the back of the tender, is conveyed forwardly at the speed of the train and as the engineer nears the opposite end of the inclined track he increases the speed of his engine and on account of the increased speed the car is thrown upwardly on the inclined track onto the platform by the momentum and the stop 69 will release itself from its position from the mechanism of the tender during its ascending movement. The contents are first placed in the several compartments of the carriage and the carriage is placed in position as shown in Fig. 2 with its upper wheels in proper proximity to the inclined rails and is supported in a partial inclined position by means of the leverA4 mechanismsuspended beneathfthe platform; this carriage will not be released by an approaching train unless the lever mechanism on the tender is Amanipulated bring'fimgthe wings beyond its side A so as to contact with the leverw76 and after theV contents `hz'ive'been deposited and the carl conveyed to the opposite side of the structure the doors in the coal compartment and the valve in the water'compartment are simultaneously closed by pulling downwardly upon the end of the lever 48', the spr-ing located on the side oi' the body and attached to the lever 6l .and assists in nor'- mally returningthe latches in locked position after the 'doors have been closed.

The mechanism onth'eback of the tender which contacts with the carriage Aand conveys it forwardly with the moving train is constructed of such height as to contact with the stop so that the under portion of the Y overhead car will freely passv the highest point of the moving train; this mechanism if found desirable may be vmade adjustable to Vaccommodate-any height of over-hang ingcar. p

Having fully described our invention what we claim is: c.

1. A device 'of the class describedcomprisingl a loading carriage compartments located therein,l a kdrop bottom located in one compartment, a valve located 'in 'the other compartment, a trigger mechanism for releasing the drop bottom and valve simultaneously in combination Y withl yan elevated trestle work constructed' over the railroad right of way, the said trestlework having contact with the 'moving train, substantially as specified.

-2. A device of the class described comprisi'ng an `elongated structure provided with a horizontal track and a concave track a two compartment carriage mounted thereon, a set of wheels mounted 'on the bottom of the carriage for operating on the horizontal track, a set of wheels mounted near the upper edge of the carriage for operating on the'concave track, one of the compartments provided with a hinged bottom and adapted to hold coal, the other compartment having a circular opening and adapted to hold water, a valve located in the circular opening, a valve stem attached to the valve, a lever pivotally mounted on the carriage to which the valve stem is attached, a rod attached to one end of the lever, links attached to the rod andthe bottom of the coal compartment so that the valve is raised from its seat when the bottom of the coal compartment is dropped, a latch mechanism for holding the bottom'of the coal compartment in closed position, .a lever for releasing the latchy mechanism, a projection located on the tender for operating said lever, a latch and lever mechanism for holding the carriage in starting position on the concave track, a tripping mechanism mounted on the tender for. releasing the carriage and a means on the tender for holding the carriage in locked position while the same is delivering its contents into the tender, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof, we have signed our names to this speciication, in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM H. RICE. JAMES T. RICE. Witnesses:

ALFRED A. EICKS, -WALTER C. STEIN.

Gopiesof this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, Vby addressing the Commissioner of. Patents,

' I Washington; D. C. 

